Girlfriend Murder Suspect in Court

By Kuvee Kangueehi WINDHOEK Twenty-eight year-old Alexia Kotjikojo made her first appearance in the Katutura magistrate’s court on charges of murder and obstructing justice on Monday morning. Kotjikojo, who appeared before magistrate Leah Shaanika, showed no emotion in the brief appearance and her case was postponed to July 18 for further investigations. Kotjikojo was arrested on Saturday evening as a suspect in the murder of her 29-year old boyfriend Henry Tjivikua in the early morning hours of Saturday. It is believed that the girlfriend fatally stabbed the boyfriend with a knife. The suspect was advised by the magistrate to seek legal representation because of the seriousness of the charge. Kotjikojo to the surprise of family members, friends, neighbours and other community members who packed the gallery of Court A informed the court that she would conduct her own defence. However, magistrate Shaanika warned her that she could face a life-long prison sentence if she is found guilty on the charge and thus should get a lawyer or apply for legal aid if she cannot afford a lawyer. Dressed in a pink polo neck jersey and a jeans jacket, Kotjikojo hardly looked in the direction of the public gallery or the magistrate. She was advised by the magistrate that she could apply for bail before she appears again on July 18. The girlfriend first claimed that her boyfriend arrived with the stab wound at home in the early morning and asked the neighbour to take her boyfriend to hospital. Tjivikua managed to arrive alive at the Katutura State Hospital but succumbed to the wound after an hour. The girlfriend then together with the neighbour went to relatives of Tjivikua and informed them that unknown person(s) stabbed killed her boyfriend. However, the tragedy took another twist on Saturday afternoon when a nurse at Katutura hospital and a Tjivikua family member informed the mourners that there was something sinister in the entire story because of the distance that the late is alleged to have walked before reaching his girlfriend’s house while nursing a stab wound in the heart. Kotjikojo was later arrested in connection with the case.